Category Archives: The joys of marriage

I have had a fun time planning this birthday milestone for him. We’re celebrating Saturday with a karaoke party at home with about 50 folks — mostly friends from church and work. Pinterest has made party planning much more of a sport. I made cake balls for the first time — lemon. I don’t love them, so I’m stopping at lemon and just making white cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes (but I’m adding a Hershey Kiss to the center of the chocolate cupcakes as I saw on Pinterest). I did make some Oreo truffles that I saw on Pinterest. They, my friends, are divine. Beyond the sweets, Costco is my go-to caterer for party food. My friend, Erica, designed the logo for me to use on the cupcakes and balls. I saw (on Pinterest, of course) suckers for 30 sucks and was inspired to be more positive. So, I thought 40 Rocks! It goes with our karaoke theme, too. Then I remembered Pop Rocks and had her use that as inspiration for her design. She is fabulous, and I love it! I printed it on cardstock and used my recently-aquired circle punch to punch them out. (I’m going to be using that thing lots more!)

But the MOST EXCITING thing I did for John’s special day was contact old friends and loved ones to have them send me a memory of John. I laughed so hard! I smiled from ear to ear hearing over and over again reading what a truly good man he is. The term moral compass came up more than once. But, Beevis and Butthead did, too, so he’s a good guy with a sense of humor. That’s like perfection, isn’t it?

I installed a google add-on, Boomerang, to allow me to set up emails to send to him every twenty minutes throughout the day on his birthday with these special messages. 40 memories from 40 loved ones on his 40th birthday. I’ll post the whole list tomorrow for electronic posterity.

For now, I will let you enjoy John’s hair. He has good hair, and it seems to bear the brunt of his aging-related crises.

I hadn’t consciously done this, but I’m so glad that Caroline, with her amazing ability to learn, has understood that her parents love each other. Growing up, my parents were always affectionate in front of us. They would hug and kiss and dance. I want my daughter to grow up in a home seeing a loving, healthy relationship modeled. So, I was thrilled to see her pick up the “mommy” and “daddy” from her dollhouse and have them kiss each other and then dance with each other. Then they found the baby and kissed her, too.

Twelve years ago today, at about this time, I married the love of my life. We were just babies, really, and we are so fortunate that we have grown up *together*. John and I were talking a few weeks ago about some aquaintance’s drama. I don’t remember who or what, but he said something about being glad that neither of us were into drama. I think that is a huge part of making our marriage successful. We choose not to create drama. We choose to be happy. We choose to love each other.

Having such a great guy for a husband does help, I admit. John gets better looking every year! He’s a wonderful father and a good provider. He’s grown into the spiritual leader in our family. He makes me a better person. I love you, babe!